Millions of tourists and businesspersons who normally visit the EU’s borderless Schengen area will have to complete a €5 online security check before arrival if an EU plan to tighten controls on foreigners who do not need visas wins approval.

“Don’t let your democratic mandate be ridiculed or diminished, stand up for it. You are the representatives of more than 500 million people,” European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans told MEPs in a powerful speech in Strasbourg on Wednesday (6th July).

EXCLUSIVE / The European Commission was accused last night of stalling national waste and recycling policies across the EU, after it emerged that only two countries have dedicated circular economy strategies.

More than 1,000 refugees arrived at Greece's biggest port of Piraeus near Athens yesterday (13 January) as the influx of refugees fleeing conflict zones for Europe continued unabated into the winter months.

The European Commission sent a letter to two Polish ministers yesterday (30 December) expressing concern over a proposed law on control of the country's state-run media, a spokesman for the EU executive said, another sign of disquiet in Brussels over Poland's new political path.

Stuck in an existential crisis, the European Union must shake-off its fears, revisit its values and achievements, and claim back its self-confidence, Frans Timmermans said in Brussels on Thursday (22 October).

To cheers, applause and probably a tinge of relief, the 17 global goals that will provide the blueprint for the world’s development over the next 15 years were ratified by UN member states in New York on Friday (25 September).

About half of wild birds have a "secure status" as EU programmes to protect endangered species have boosted numbers. But some of their habitats are cause for major concern, largely because of intensive farming, an EU report found on Wednesday (20 May).

The European Union won’t decide whether to include the investor- state-dispute-settlement (ISDS) clause in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) until the “final phase of the negotiations” with the US.

The new European Commission’s fresh start could be under threat before it’s even managed to get off the ground thanks to an imminent legal opinion from the European Court of Justice (ECJ), writes Allie Renison.

EU environment ministers have signalled their support for waste rules, part of the Circular Economy package axed today from the European Commission’s 2015 work programme, and will discuss the pending legislation at their meeting in Brussels tomorrow (17 December).

EXCLUSIVE: EU legislation to ensure gender equality on company boards, to extend maternity leave, and to reduce air pollution and landfill should be killed off, a leading business lobby organisation has told the European Commission.

As Europe wakes up to a new executive, expected to be much more ‘political’, a chorus of reactions greets the change of structure of the new Juncker Commission, but analysts are adopting a wait-and-see attitude towards the new strategic rationale.